Imminent Inferno
by 39addict101
Summary: The burning past haunts him, a roaring inferno that laps at his heels like hellfire seeking him out for his sins. The smoke ascends, and all he can remember is the death that surrounds him. If only he could go back, if only he could change the past...
1. Chapter 1

**I'mNotAGoodWriter: Hello everyone. Yes, I'm sure you're wondering, "What are you doing on Addict's story?" And I have an answer for you. The truth is...**

 **39addict101: Yo! Peeps! Just here with my bestie and we are...what's that? Oh, I interrupted? Oh, ok. Right. *sighs***  
 **Yeah, um, I don't know. We, like, wrote this together, and...you know what, Inagw, why don't you explain?**

 **I'mNotAGoodWriter: *laughs* Well, then, I'll take your offer.**

 **In this story, 39addict101 and I are co-writers to the T. It started off with us each writing one sentence at a time: Addict, Me, Addict, Me, etc. Then we moved onto bigger segments of writing, but kept up the pattern. In this way, we compiled together the chapter you're seeing right now.**

 **Any extra notes I'm missing, Addict?**

 **Addict: *jumps up and down* No! I don't think so. OMG This! Is! So! Exciting!**  
 **Oh, wait...both of us will reply to your review. *glares* So you better review! ;DDDDD**  
 **Hang on. That's fine with you, right Miss Awesomesauce?**

 **I'mNotAGoodWriter: I don't think new readers will appreciate the nickname you have for me. They're probably expecting another person to pop out now. Unless... *glances around suspiciously* ... we're not the only ones here...**

 **Okay, back on topic. Yes, we will both be relying to reviews. Though I don't know if that means if were both going to reply to each review individually by PMing the reviewer, or were going to reply within this *motions to the chat* thing we're doing right now. I guess it's up to Addict.**

 **39addict101: What? Of course they'll appreciate the name! Why wouldn't they?**  
 **Wait...do you really think there's someone else here? *panics* THIS IS OUR STORY! *cries***  
 **Ooh! That would be cool! Let's reply to them here!**  
 **Is that all? Cuz I can't think of anything else...**

 **I'mNotAGoodWriter: *comforts Addict* There, there, I'm sure there's no one else besides us and our story.**

 **And yeah, I'm pretty sure there's nothing more of importance. And if there is, hey, we'll just bring it up next time. Onwards to the story!**

 **39addict101: Yes! Onward with the story! Y'all enjoy it, now, ok?**  
 **Oh, and make sure you review!**

* * *

A wrinkled old man sat in a shaded porch swing, staring into the past; of hurt and pain, looking places, glimpsing things only he could see. He could only hope, pray, that none of the others could look down and see him so low, so pitiful after _it_ had happened, from their places high in heaven. He remembered the screams, oh Lord the sound of flesh tearing, the stink from the burning flesh, but most of all the sound of someone calling for him, pleading for him to come, to not be heartless...to save them. He remembered glancing back, coughing, hacking as his lungs filled with smoke; he remembered the second he chose his life over theirs, and he would never forgive himself. He gasped and clutched his chest, nails digging into his skin to anchor him from the waves of emotion that wracked his heart. His eyes squeezed shut, his hands still clutched to his chest, trying to filter out the images of his family screaming his name, calling him, begging him, to save them from the fiery throng that enveloped them.

His eyes flew open, a moment of distortion as his brain failed to comprehended the green hues from the park around him, instead still seeing the fiery nightmare playing in front of his confused eyes. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the bright world around him, he shuddered, realizing it had only been a flashback. He slowly rose to his feet, knees creaking in protest as he straightened out. He looked up to bright ocean of sky, wishing his life could be cheery and happy, like the sky, instead of dark and gloomy like an overcast day. Grabbing his cane, he started walking towards his home; down the path surrounded by the green grass with colorful flowers scattered in abundance.

A gold finch called out to him, a sweet warble that warmed his broken soul. With a tired smile, he continued his slow stroll home, his old bones already begging for the sweet embrace of his bed sheets. He reached his old sagging house, and looked up at it, then leaned against it like one leans against a good friend. He strolled inside, walking the best path to his bed and avoiding the holes in the floor subconsciously. When he reached it, he sank wearily down into the comfort of his sheets, not bothering to remove his shoes. He let sleep consume him, surrendering to the sweet numbness of the darkness; praying he'd have no dreams.

Fire tore through his soul, licking and roaring, tearing into every part of his mind, there was no escaping it. He screamed but no noise came out, and he felt a crushing weight on him, suffocating him. His breath came in shallow gasps, and his lungs screamed for more air. His eyes flew open as he finally released the scream that had been bubbling at the back of his throat.

His breath all but stopped as he noticed the ninja posters on the wall, his pile of unfinished homework, and... _Amy?_

"Dan! What happened?! I heard a scream!" Amy panted, looking out of breath as if she had climbed two sets of stairs, which, incidentally, she had. Dan stared blankly at Amy, blinking, and then the memories flooded back. He stilled himself against the torrent of memories, instead focusing on Amy. He smiled, trying to sound like his normal self. What was happening? Why was Amy here? Was he dreaming again? A hallucination?

He blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to focus on the scene before him. "Dan?" Amy asked, the concern in her voice signified she was worried about him, he knew it, but he couldn't place why.

"Uh, yes?" Amy placed a hand on his head, to check for a fever maybe, and the hand felt so real he felt like he was about to faint. What was happening? His mind felt twisted, cheated, out of important information. The room spun, a blur of colors in a darkened world.

"Where am I?" He asked. Amy looked at him curiously, confusion etched across her face.

"Uhhhh... At home? Dan?"

He felt like he was going to throw up. Was this the past? What day was it? He stared at Amy, wondering if it would be weird if he asked what year it was, and his mind began to wander.

"Dan?" Amy asked again. It was too late, he had gone back into the depths of his mind. Where had he been before he came here? He remembered going to bed, searing pain, and the he was here. Amy stared at the musing Dan quietly, finally sighing and hitting him upside the head.

"Ow!" Dan yelped, turning to look at her with accusatory eyes, "What was that for?"

Amy sighed. "What the hell, Dan! You scared me! Recently, whenever I try to talk to you, you're here physically, but your mind is always somewhere else. Why can't you tell me what's wrong?"

Dan's heart leapt to his throat in guilt as he looked at her expression, and he automatically flashed one of his biggest, and his personal fakest, grins. "I'm fine! Why are you being all angsty? Everything is fine."

Amy glared suspiciously at him. "Right...Are you sure?"

Dan grinned, nodding his head multiple times and putting on his most innocent expression. "Yup!"

She shrugged, pacified. Turning away, she called out to him over her shoulder. "Okay then. I'm getting back to work." Dan grinned until she left, his face falling into a more serious expression that Amy had probably never seen on his childish face. He need some answers, and he needed them quickly before anyone got suspicious.

He swallowed hard, praying she wouldn't come back up. "What year is it?" He mumbled, rummaging through his drawers. It never occurred to him how hard it was to determine what year you were in! He pulled out his phone, and sighed in relief. 2014. He began to reach back and try to remember what time the disaster had happened. Was there a chance that he could rewrite the past? There must be some butterfly effect, like Dan poofing out of existence or losing all his memories, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Anything to save his family. His mind churned as memories flooded back, and he found himself biting his lip, willing the awfulness of the memories to leave him alone. Tears filled his eyes.

"I'm an idiot." He said, his voice cracking with pain.

Swallowing against the painful lump in his throat, he wiped the tears away, cursing when more welled up to fill their place. He needed to get to work. Creeping out of his room, he tiptoed to the bathroom to splash some water on his face. He needed to tell someone, to confide in someone. Turning on the faucet, he splashed the cool water over his face, almost feeling his anxieties calming. As soon as he turned off the sink, however, they came rushing back to him, old memories, future memories, past and present memories. He opened his mouth to call for Amy. All he needed right now was help. But no words flew out of his open mouth. Forcing his mouth shut with some effort, he walked stiffly back to his room, still unused to his young body and not willing to make a fool of himself by tripping all over the place. Digging through his junk, he searched and searched for and old item. Where was it? Ah! Here it was. His old dia- journal.

Looking at the cover brought a fresh flood of tears to his eyes, memories of the journal resurfacing. He felt his eyes begin to sting, and he rapidly blinked, refusing to acknowledge this new rush of emotion that threatened to control him. He opened to the first page. He stared at the page blankly, the scribbled and scratches seemed to be mocking him. Were these... were these words? Squinting at the chicken scratch that was apparently his past handwriting, he began to discern and pick apart a few words at a time, before giving up and flipping to a new page. Picking up his pencil, he started to write down his memories of the future.

"I first met them online. They called themselves Dragon. I didn't know what to think about him, but I had met Atticus on the game beforehand so my guard was down. We met on a MMO game called Ninjas X. We started off as opponents, where I beat them. They challenged me to a rematch, which they won. I challenged them, and so it continued, each of us equally matched. Soon after, we ran out of energy and had to forfeit at a tie.

We sent friend requests to each other, and that's how we started."

Dan put down the pencil as his hand began to cramp. Looking down at his had with an expression of betrayal, he wondered how little he used to write for his hand to cramp at such a low amount of words. He gazed at the side of hand, where it was gray from the residue of the graphite. He glanced down at the page he had just been writing, which was blurred and smudged in some places from the sweat from his hand. Sighing, he continued to write.

"We chatted for some days, and I slowly found out they played other games I had. We slowly began seeking each other out on other games, before finally, on CS:GO, I found out she was a girl. I didn't find it strange that she managed to have every single game I had, but I probably should have had warnings blaring. I trusted her, which was the worst mistake I could have ever made. I gave her my phone number and email address. She must have hacked my stuff, because suddenly, things took a turn for the worse."

Dan sighed, and set down his pencil again to rub his forehead in an irked manner. He didn't like writing down his stupid mistakes. But he was glad he was remembering, maybe, just maybe, he could fix his wrongs. Turning around into a more comfortable position, he picked up the neglected pencil and started writing.

"It started off small, talking to me everyday, calling me every now and then. Once we hit out 6-month checkpoint in our friendship, she confessed to me. I didn't really know how online relationships worked, and by then she was one of my closest friends, so I readily agreed.

We were always talking. She would text, call, play games with me, she was the single thing my life began to revolve around. I didn't know it then, but her persistence was just their version of keeping tabs on me. That's when it happened. All of a sudden, she broke contact. At first I thought, "Well...she could be gone, or her phone broke, or..." I continued on and on with a list, but when she didn't get back to anyone of 546 messages, I was crushed.

That's when it hit.

She suddenly called me, right in the middle of the night. I wasn't sleeping or anything. but you'd think after an entire month of not talking I'd be a little cautious while picking up. Unfortunately, not so. All hesitancy was thrown out the window when I saw the name, and I immediately picked up.

"Hey babe!" A chirpy came from the receiver. I remember getting a little angry and demanding why she didn't reply to all my messages, to which she replied:

"I know, I'm a terrible person for not replying to your messages and I should die. I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm terrible, I'm horrible, I should kill myself." She had replied in one breath."

Dan gave the entry a grim smile before adding a little note that he found out about after.

"Now, I don't know if you know, but that isn't actually an apology, that's a guilt trip and a manipulation to make the offender seem like the victim. And it worked. I apologized, and also ordered her a new phone.

It was the start. She slowly began asking for more and more, and when I didn't comply, she'd either threaten to breakup with me or kill herself. I didn't realize I was in an abusive relationship, and I still liked her as a friend too much to let her go. But the biggest milestone was when she told me to steal one of Amy's things. I refused, and she accused me of not loving her. I replied that I did love her, but I loved my sister more.

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew it had been the worst mistake I'd ever make.

"What?" She shrieked, her voice rising an octave with each letter.

I couldn't think of anything to say, so all I said was, "What I mean is that I love you, and my sister equally, but I love my sister enough to not steal her stuff."

She didn't say anything, just burst into tears. The front camera was soon covered in liquid and her face was a distorted mess.

I don't know why, but suddenly, I didn't want to lose her. "It's fine!" I promised. "I'll get you Amy's coat. She'll never know a thing." The voice call was promptly ended by her

After that, she began asking for larger and larger things. Amy's brooch, Amy's ring, Amy's diamond necklace. The list went on and on, each item more valuable than the rest.

But when she asked for Amy's Mustang convertible, I knew it was going to far. Amy was becoming suspicious, and I couldn't do this any longer to my sister. By then, I had already surrendered my address for about 2 months, which meant she knew where I lived. A few days after I refused to give her Amy's car, she came to the front door. It was jarring. The person I had been obeying through screen was suddenly at my door.

I opened the door immediately, not wanting her to get mad, before she threw herself at me with tears. A shiver ran through me, my body already recognizing the signs for the next emotionally challenging event.

"Dan! I'm so sorry! I just wanted to meet you so much!" She cried, sobbing into my chest.

I wrapped my arms around her head, ignoring Amy, who had come to the door to see what the commotion was about.

"Dan?" Amy questioned me, her voice confused. "Who is this?"

I stopped, with my arms still around Narcissus. "Uh..." I paused, "This is my girlfriend, Narcissus."

I hated the hurt look on Amy's face. I had excluded her on an important detail of my life. One that I should have told her about. I tried not to let it bother me, and I ignored her, focusing all my attention on Narcissus.

Amy's shock soon wore off, but she remained angry at me. I invited Narcissus to stay over, but she replied that she already had a place. Desperate, I asked her if she wanted to eat dinner with us. Looking at my sister long enough for me to get uncomfortable, she shook her head. Leaning into me, she whispered.

"I don't think your sister likes me." She mumbled, tears springing into her eyes as she looked up at me.

And suddenly I hated Amy. I hated Amy for making Narcissus uncomfortable, which stemmed off into hatred for her always expecting to know everything in my life, even though she kept secrets from me. How she expected me to tell her about my girlfriend even though she still was keeping her boyfriend a secret. I hated Amy.

After Narcissus left, I wheeled on Amy, all the fury, hurt and pain I'd been hiding coming to the surface. I'm not proud of what I said, and I said it harshly.

Amy's jade eyes filled with tears, and for two seconds I regretted it. But then I thought of Narcissus, and I was proud I got back at my wretch of a sister. I ran after the receding brunette, catching up to her in mere seconds. Beaming at her, I told her of what I had done. I wanted her to be proud of me. But she just gave me this disappointed look, and told me, "Dan, you shouldn't have done that. What if Amy hates you now?"

As soon as she said it, the weight of what I had told her came crashing down on me. I hurt my sister. Narcissus noticed the shift in my eye and leaned towards me, laying her hand on my cheek in a gentle caress.

"She probably does hate you! Oh Dan, I'm the only person who loves you. You need to listen to me only." She crooned. I stared down at the floor, not wanting to meet her eyes. It was a beautiful day, birds twittered softly in the green trees, and the sun smiled down on the earth. All I felt was a dark, empty hole open in my heart.

"You're right." I said. "Let's leave. There's nothing here for us."

Narcissus smiled. "Wrong." She said, arching two perfectly manicured eyebrows. "Your sister's car is still here."

We stole Amy's car and skipped town. Out in the open, Narcissus seemed to change her mind again. Her pale face turned dark with anger and she turned on me, rage etched onto her face. I flinched away, mumbling apologies even though I didn't know what I did.

"Why didn't Amy know about me, Dan? Huh?! Why?!" I started explaining why I felt like I was entitled to keep a secret from her because she kept secrets from me, but it backfired and Narcissus just became sarcastic and snarky.

"Yeah but who did the worst fall upon? Me! Because _you_ didn't tell your sister, she got angry at you keeping me a secret, and she got made at me! Also, who do you think you are? Keeping me a secret? What am I to you, a secret lover? A girl you want to fuck in the sidelines? A side chick? Dan, are you cheating on me?!"

I vehemently denied everything, apologizing over and over, but she wasn't taking it. "Your going to go back, and apologize to your sister for me. Just remember, she's probably hates you, but I don't want her to hate _me_! Okay, babe? We'll go on our first date afterwards!"

She drove back, furiously pushing me out of the car before climbing out and slamming the door shut. I stared at Narcissus as she stormed away. Her pretty face seemed to be obscured by a dark rain cloud. I didn't know what to do, I just stared and watched as she ran away."

Dan sighed, looking at what he'd written. He wondered if this had already happened, or if it was afterwards. He pulled out his laptop, and sat staring, afraid to log in.

Picking up his pencil again, he dropped it with a yelp as his hand sent spasms up his arm. Grinning ruefully at the pages he had written in one sitting, he decided to wait a while for the cramp in his hand to fade away.

Opening his laptop, he went to his private messages, and attempting to open his chat, he tried to log in. Several tries later, he realized with dismay that he'd forgotten the password. He now had no way to know where he was in his "relationship" with Narcissus. Cringing, he rubbed his temples, trying to soothe the raging inferno inside his head.

He instead went to his email, something he and Narcissus used sparsely to communicate. Sighing at the last email she sent, he realized that she was either on her way, or it had already happened. Then again, seeing as Amy didn't seem angry, that meant Narcissus was coming soon. He began to panic, no knowing what to do. Breaking up earlier could either make it better, or worse and trigger the event earlier. For now, if she turned up, he'd play along. His mind was a lot stronger now anyway. He could take a little manipulation, especially if it had already happened before. He closed his laptop after reading the last 10 emails he exchanged with Narcissus, making sure not to logout.

His eyes went wide as his vision got dim, a black and white checkered pattern blurring the edges of his peripheral and blocking his view. He stumbled to his feet, a numb tingle spreading through his body. Tottering around, he staggered around, head buzzing so much he couldn't tell where he was going. Or what he was doing. His hands hit the floor as he fell, and he wondered if he was standing or laying down. Slowly, the buzzing faded away, and his sight came flowing back. With confusion, he wondered when he stared kneeling on the floor. He got to his feet unsteadily, wondering what just happened. With a shock, he realized he remembered his password. Even more worryingly, he was starting to forget the future.

He typed in his password, and gasped. The last message from Narcissus had been over two months ago. Either she had already come, or she was on her way. He heard his phone ring, and he leaned over and answered it.

It was Amy. "Hey, Dan?" She said. "Um, I'm going to the store, and I wanted to know if you wanted me to drop you off with some of your friends."

Dan paused, "Uh, no." He needed to figure out this stuff, this confusion and mental chaos, first.

Suddenly the headache rushed at him again. His head pounded, and he heard himself say, "I mean, yes."

The headaches were controlling him.

Why had he said yes?! His memories of the future got muddled, jumbling up and mixing together like a thick, monotone mess. What on earth were these headaches? Was the past trying to make sure he was back to old Dan so he wouldn't mess with the future? He wouldn't let it! Holding his head in one hand and a pencil in the other, he began writing again.

He got lost in thought as he wrote, line after line of awful mistakes he'd made. His head pounded worse and worse until he thought he wouldn't be able to see the words on the page in front of him. He heard someone knock on his door, and then the door opened to reveal Amy.

"Aren't you coming?" She asked.

Dan tried to fight. He really did. But then he felt himself nodding. "Yes." He said through gritted teeth. Then, through excruciating pain, he managed, "Hang on a sec, okay?" He ran, and grabbed his journal, then followed Amy down the stairs. Noticing a bookbag hanging near the door, he shrugged it on, just in case. He clutched the notebook to his chest, repeating over and over why he had it, about how he knew of the future, repeating it till it didn't sound true. Getting into Amy's car (which wasn't stolen, he thought hazily) he looked down at the notebook and wondered why he took it.

Starting to read it, some of his memories came flooding back as he berated himself for forgetting. His eyes blurred, and he asked almost asked Amy, "Have you seen your jade brooch lately?" Then he thought better of it, and realized that would _not_ be a good idea.

They drove for a while in silence, until Amy turned to Dan and asked, "Are you alright? You've been spending a lot of time in your room, on your computer...is there something you want to tell me?" She arched her eyebrows.

 _'Porn'_ Dan thought. ' _She thinks I'm looking at porn. Well, that's better than suspecting the truth',_ he supposed "No." He said, lying through his teeth. Instantly, he wished he had said something. Deciding to confide in her, he started talking again.

"Nah, I'm just playing online with some friends." Deciding to come clean before Narcissus came, he started to tell her about his "girlfriend". Taking a deep breath, he said "Actually, I'm going out with-"'a splitting headache came crashing down, and he could feel something choking him, forcing the words back down. _'This settles it. Something is trying to make me back into 'normal' Dan._

He stared out the window at the green trees flashing by, a blur of color to his sleepy senses. _'What am I doing?'_ He wondered. _'Obviously, I'm doing the right thing, or I would get one of those headaches, right? But I don't remember this.'_ Trying to resurface the memory of this day, he closed his eyes.

As they stopped at a traffic light, Amy noticed something. Her voice broke into his thoughts. "What's that book you're holding?" Reaching over, she grabbed it and opened it to the first page. He began waking up from his earlier stupor when she laughed. "Dan! You're such a good writer! Why didn't you tell me that you wrote?"

Heart jumping through his throat, he let out a strained smile and peeped over Amy's shoulder to see what she was reading in the journal. Luckily, she was just looking at one of his earlier poems, the entries from before he had woken up in the past.

'Please don't keep reading please don't keep reading' he implored mentally.

As Amy began turning the pages to find something else to tease Dan with, he grabbed the book back and laughed shakily. "Well, that's enough of that, don't you think?"

"Don't be stupid, Dan!" Amy said, beaming. "This is great!"

She tried to grab the book back, and they started a tug of war over it.

Dan smiled, eyes crazy with a desperation that Amy didn't recognize. "The light is green." He said, pretending to look at it.

Snapping back to attention, Amy looked like she just remembered they were on the road. Quickly getting back into position, she threw a smirk at Dan and said "You got away this time, but I'll get it again!"

Dan laughed, but it sounded fake even to his ears. His heart was thumping wildly, and he felt like if he breathed Amy would hear how loud his heartbeat was. He felt like he just narrowly avoided a trip to the therapist. Making up his mind, he decided to buy a book safe. He had shoved in the journal into the bag just as Amy stopped the car at the mall.

"Here you go." She said. "Call me when you're done, okay?"

Dan nodded, hoping he didn't look to eager to get away from her. He stepped out, enjoying the cool wind on his tanned face. He pulled out his cellphone, and discovered a text...from Narcissus. It read: "I want the car."

He couldn't remember what he replied to her before, so he decided to play it safe and reply "What car?"

Within minutes, Narcissus replied, "I want the car you're in right now."

Dan's heart skipped a beat as he almost dropped the phone in shock. How did Narcissus see him? Was she able to see through his front camera despite not being in a call? He didn't remember this. Was it possible that the past was already changing?

Dan stared in shock at his phone. "Dan? Dan?" Amy's prying voice interrupted his thoughts. "I thought you were getting out."

Dan laughed, cringing mentally at how the laughs were sounding increasingly fake. "Right. Just...thinking."

Amy smiled. "For some new writing ideas, right?"

Dan glared at her. "No!" He got out and slammed the door.

He texted Narcissus back. "I'm not in a car. What r u talking about?" Then he sent a selfie of himself in front of the mall.

"Oooh you're at the mall? Buy me something! *heart emoji*"

Dan grimaced, getting reminded of what she wanted from here. She nearly completely depleted his pocket money, which was saying a lot. And all on some shit purses that he had to spend more money on to send to her location. Quickly typing, he replied "Sure, what do you want? I'm with some friends tho."

"Oh babe, you don't need them! Just stick with me and shop for what you want! You can even video call me :DDDD"

Ignoring the incoming migraine, he slowly typed out "No thanks", wincing against the heavy waves of nausea that rocked through his body with each letter he typed in, knowing that he was changing the past.

But the response was immediate.

"Oh ok :(((( You made me sad now! Do you not want to see me?! D':"

His fingers moved automatically across the screen, typing a reply. "No. I do want to see you. But," He stopped, and then erased everything he'd written, ignoring the throbbing in his head. "Who cares?" He said, fighting the urge to throw up.

He walked inside, and clicked his other contacts, texting his friends. When he heard their destination, he walked toward them, but strangely, the nausea and headaches seemed to vanish. It was as if once they reached their peak, they began to disappear. Maybe it was because he had already changed this portion of the past, it would be a smooth sail to the next time where he could do the exact same thing in the past. Snorting to himself, he thought ' _As if I'd let that happen'_ before jogging to where the group was lounging around.

His buddies spotted him and waved him over. "How's your girlfriend?" One of them asked.

Oh. Evidently, he'd told them about Narcissus. "Uh...fine." He stuttered.

Evan grinned, punching his shoulder, "Dan, you're lying, I can see it!"

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" He asked, rubbing his shoulder absentmindedly. "Ask her how she's doing every ten seconds?" He smiled, hoping that counted as one of his normal witty remarks.

Jeremy rolled his eyes "Right."

Dan rolled his eyes and then said, "So, who's up for Victoria's Secret?"

Jeremy laughed "Victoria's secret? What are you, a girl?"

Evan nodded along and chuckled "Yeah, Dan! You already told us that you were in a long distance relationship-"

"Don't expect us to believe you already got laid." Jason finished, laughing as Evan attacked him for interrupting him. They wrestled a little until Evan emerged victorious, Jeremy giving a round of applause as the winner bowed in thanks before helping Jason up.

Dan chuckled along to the banter nervously, wondering back at how much he told his three friends. If he remembered correctly, he came out about his abusive relationship to them. One didn't believe him, one said to "man up" and left him, and the last one told his to leave her fought Narcissus, accidentally triggering the event that led to her isolating him.

"I was joking." He said, answering the earlier question. Then he turned to Jeremy, "Besides, maybe we could take one of the magazines to look at later." He joked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Jeremy turned a deep red, and Dan laughed.

Evan shook his head, and then turned to Jason. "Didn't you want ski pants or something?"

Jason nodded, and Dan looked at his friends, and contentment washed over him. If only Narcissus...He stopped, not letting himself think those thoughts. They wandered the mall, doing strange things and making heads turn, only to run away laughing. It felt like the old days, and Dan felt nostalgia wash over him, still in the mindset of his older self. As evening approached, the group broke up, and Dan was left alone in one of the stores. Pulling out his journal, he continued writing while waiting for Amy to come pick him up. He ignored the notifications of the 300+ messages Narcissus sent him, instead reading what he had wrote before in his journal to pick off properly.

He stared at the book, the scribbly handwriting winking in and out of his vision. His eyes watered and burned. But he at least now knew that Narcissus had not come yet. Maybe she wouldn't, seeing as he had refused to steal the car. His phone chimed, again and again, over and over, until it began to sound like a ring tone.

Dan gritted his teeth, and, picking up his phone, shutting off the sound. He was done with her. He didn't have to play to her little game anymore, he had overcome, triumphed over his headaches. He had changed the past, the fire wouldn't happen. Everyone was safe. Dan gave a little giggle, possibly sounding a little insane. A sales clerk came to ask him why he was here if he wasn't buying anything, and he walked out. Going to the entrance, he started looking around for Amy's car, still high on his previous euphoria.

And then he blacked out.

When he awoke again, he was in his room, on his bed, Amy beside him. _And she was holding his journal._

"Dan!" Amy squealed. "I can't believe you wrote this stuff. I'm sending it into to be published. "

"Wait...what?" Why wasn't Amy angry? Why wasn't she yelling and throwing things? Begging for him to confide in her? Yelling at him to tell her everything?

"Look at this!" Amy said, opening to a page. Dan saw the name Narcissus and shuddered, turning away. Amy began narrating it aloud and his mind wandered, but in seconds, it was brought back to reality. What Amy was reading, was _not_ what he had written. Not even close.

What Amy was reading was a sappy romance between a boy named William and Narcissus, and something that _he_ definitely didn't write. So where was his journal?

Grabbing the notebook from Amy and ignoring the sound of protest, he began flipping through the pages. It was an excellently forged copy, it even got down the scribbles of his handwriting.

Talking slowly, he looked into Amy's eyes and asked "Amy? Where did you find this?"

Amy laughed, not understanding the dire situation. "In your backpack, of course!" The backpack!The bag he had taken as an extra thought! She laughed again, her entire face lighting up. "To think! My baby brother is such a good writer!" She fished out the journal from Dan's slack grip, continuing to read the story.

Dan began to think back to all the places he'd been. Where had he set his backpack down, and where, when, and how would someone have the time to forge his 'diary' and then replace it?

Amy was talking about something else now. Dan was paying half attention until something caught his attention and he began listening  
"-ey were talking about how we all died in a fire and why they suddenly woke up to be alive again. Isn't that crazy? Dan? Hey, Dan?"

Dan's face was drained of blood, becoming pale and sweaty. His breathing was getting rough, and he held his head in his hands as Amy rushed to get him some water. Someone woke up in the past as well. Someone who died in the fire. Someone knew of the future.

He needed to find them. And he needed to get his journal, fast. The times were changing, and too quickly to keep up with. His mind whirled. Where had he been? Then it clicked. Dick's Sporting Goods. They were looking at ski googles, and the guys had to leave. He'd set his backpack down, and talked to the obnoxious sales clerk, leaving his backpack alone. Oh, god, he was an idiot.

Smiling at Amy when she returned with the water, he made up some lie about how he'd left something at the mall. She took the lie with no protest or question, driving him back willingly. He told her he'd come back on his own, to which Amy had agreed to reluctantly. Giving his a look of creeping suspicion, she rolled up the windows and drove away.

Waiting till her car was only a distant dot, he began running across the mall, he sprinted into the store, ignoring the heads turning. He looked around frantically where he left it, occasionally looking at the clock where the closing time was ticking closer. After giving up, he headed over to the front desk, asking for the lost-and-found. He dug and dug, before finally deciding to ask.

"Excuse me, has anyone returned a bag? It's dark blue, leathery texture, has a galaxy pattern on it with shooting stars as zippers?"

The man raised an eyebrow at the detailed description, before going to ask other employees. Soon he returned with a dark girl with auburn hair.

"Uhh, we did have the bag, but a girl came and took it. She had light brown hair and hazel eyes? She said she knew you, so we gave it. Do you know her?"

Dan's face got steadily paler and paler as the woman continued with the description, swallowing audibly and looking visibly shaken by the end. With a determined look in his eyes, he nodded. "Oh I know her." Eyes narrowing, he stomped out of the store, whispering agitatedly under his breath "Narcissus."

Anger ran through Dan's body, flowing through his veins, until he felt like he could punch anyone. Amy would call it testosterone, but Dan didn't like that term. It made him sound like he was some type of exotic creature, with a snappy temper. Pulling out his phone, he speed dialed Narcissus. She answered on the second ring. Oh, how the tables had turned.

"Hey, Danny!" She twittered. "You'll never guess what happened today!"

"I don't want to know." Dan mumbled.

"What was that, Dan, honey?"

Dan rolled his eyes, stopping as he realized there was no way she could see him while on a voice call. ' _Then again'_ he mused _'You never know. Maybe they are watching me right at this moment'_. Talking, he said "You stole my backpack?"

Silence.

"Narcissus?" Had she hung up?

"Oh, yeah, hi, I'm here."

"My backpack?" Dan asked, getting angrier by the moment.

"Oh, I took that, yeah, cuz I thought you forgot it. I'll give it back to you, if you buy me..." She paused, and Dan could imagine the snakish smile slithering onto her face, "No, wait, if you get me your sister's car."

Dan took deep breaths to calm himself down. He was old enough to keep his cool. Opening his mouth to deliver a calm speech, he heard a giggle from the other end, and it pushed him over the edge. "You didn't even tell me you were in town!" Dan screamed into the mic, sitting down heavily on the fountain in the center of the mall, ignoring the worried looks sent his way.

This wasn't how it was supposed to end up. Amy was getting suspicious, he had after all, begged to come here right after he woke up from his faint. Running a hand through his hair in frustration, he waited for Narcissus to reply.

"Oh but Dan," Narcissus's voice dropped low as Dan felt a shiver travel up his spine "You know exactly what I'm going to do." And she started reading the notes.

Dan fumbled with the phone, quickly pressing record. This may be a set back, but he wasn't going to let a chance where he could rewrite his notes get away. Narcissus' high, squeaky voice reading his notes made Dan want to puke. Her voice rose and fell, but in all the wrong spots.

"Really, Dan?" She said "I would NEVER do those things!" Dan heard her sigh. "I hate you!" She said, sobbing through the call "You don't even like me, so you wrote this about me!"

Dan heard a long tear, and he sucked in air between his teeth, hoping, praying, that what just happened was _not_ what he thought it was. He heard a telltale clicking, followed by the sound of an open flame.

"Dan, sweetie?" Narcissus crooned. "I'm burning your beloved quote unquote notes."

Dan almost dropped the phone, stumbling and grabbing it just before it hit the floor. So she was going to play it safe, huh. Thank God he didn't write anything about how he _knew_ about them. If anything, this was better. If she kept the notes and read the first page, it would all go downhill. By trying to push him into a corner, she gave him more ways to escape.

But why wasn't she talking about how he wrote about how he woke up in the past? Was there a miraculous chance that she had missed that page? Narcissus must have hung up, so Dan stopped the record, and listened to it, over and over. His mind ran over everything she'd said, but he couldn't find anything that would help him. So she definitely wasn't going to show up. Which meant the situation of meeting Amy was avoided which was good, but now she was probably suspecting him of knowing the future, so it was also bad. But he didn't steal the car. But he did go to the mall. But he didn't meet her in person. But he did talk to her.

Dan's head began to spin, and that godawful headache began throbbing back... His head throbbed with an indescribable pain, and he felt himself falling. Within seconds, a small crowd had gathered around him.

Dan thought he saw Narcissus smirking, but he also thought he saw his friend Jason telling him to, "Shut up, man, cuz we got your back."

His memories of the past and future were getting muddled with the present, and he couldn't pick them apart as they were smashed together in a whirlwind of thoughts. He stumbled away from thee fountain, one hand holding his head and the other pushing worried strangers away, carving a path in the crowd. From his peripheral he saw a flash of blonde hair, and turned so quickly he felt his neck pop. The glimpse melded into the crowd, and within seconds, he lost it.

Digging out his phone, he dialed the first number on speed dial. When the person picked up, Dan realized with a slowly clearing mind that Amy wasn't the one who picked up. Looking down at his phone, he groaned as he realized that he hadn't speed dialed, he accidentally clicked the wrong contact.

Hello?" Sinead Starling said, sounding tired. "Care to explain why you called me at eight at night? I have work to do."

Oops. "Sorry." Dan mumbled. "I, uh, meant to call someone else." He sniffed, and tried to calm himself down.

"Dan? Is that you" Sinead said, her voice growing full with worry as she recognized the normally upbeat voice. "What's wrong?"

"S-Sinead, do you have any... strange dreams recently?" Dan didn't know how the memories would play across someone who... died, so he decided that was safe enough. He should have paid attention when Amy told him the name of the person who remembered.

"What? Why would you ask that?" Sinead's voice was guarded, but soon she let out a sigh and began to talk. It was _Dan_ , after all."It was really weird." Sinead paused, as if trying to think of the right words to say. "There was...fire, and a flower, but I don't remember all of it. I just remember being terrified."

' _A flower? A flower...flower, flower...Narcissus?_ ' Dan's mind spun, the pieces clicking into place. _'Fire, flower, it's all lining up.'_

"How long was it? He blurted.

"How long was what?" The confused voice came through the speaker.

"How long ago was the dream?" Dan corrected.

"I don't really know. It's sorta like it's always been playing in my head? I tried to analyze it with a dream decipherer I made myself, but it didn't work? It's weird."

"Because its not a dream!" Dan shouted.

"What?" Sinead asked, "How do you even know?"

"Because..." Dan said, trying to chose his words carefully. Hearing Sinead's impatient sigh, he abandoned all tact and went with "I just came back from the future." Instantly, he regretted it, but it was too late to go back now.

A laugh came through the speaker and Dan felt his face burning up.

"I'm not lying! I know that we're all going to have a party in..." He recalculated in his head "Four days and that you and Amy have been keeping it a secret from us!"

A scandalized gasp came through and Sinead started talking in a "I can't believe you!" manner. "How did you know that?! We kept it a secret so well! Did you sneak in to Amy's room?"

"NO! I'm from the future! I can prove it to you!"

"How?" The voice said in a friendly taunting manner. With Dan's emotional turmoil, he got riled up by it, taking it as a challenge.

"Just... When is the nearest time I can meet you?"

"Uhh..."

"Please, Sinead."

"Fine, fine. In an hour, in the cafe across the apartment I'm staying in."

"Great! Send me the location." Thinking about how he might be being tapped, he reconsidered/ "Actually, don't. See you later."

Psyching himself up for the jog home, he started off. After five minutes, though it felt longer to Dan, he managed to reach home. Slamming into the living room, he collapsed into a chair to rest his burning legs. Amy was reading a book, and didn't even seem to realize him arrival. Getting her attention, he breathlessly asked her where Sinead lived.

Looking startled at the sudden arrival, she glanced at him. "Why do you want to know?" She asked, glaring at him suspiciously.

"Uhh..." Dan paused, "Because," He said, a light bulb going off in his head. "She's going to help me with the book I'm writing."

Amy's suspicion slacked as Dan glanced away in guilt from the lie. "Really?" She turned, and, grabbing a pad of paper, scribbled something on it and handed it to Dan. "I won't keep you." She said, looking like a mother sending her child off to kindergarten, both happy and sad at the same time. "Bye!"

Without even looking at the address, Dan rushed out of the house as fast as possible, and weaved in and out of random streets, taking several wrong turns, in case anyone was following him.

Looking down at the scrap of paper in his hand, he stopped abruptly, realizing that it wouldn't work. Trudging home, he snuck into the place they kept the keys and grabbed the garage key. Walking towards the door, he fiddled with the lock until he finally got it unlocked. Turning the knob, he stepped into the darkness and felt for the switch. Switching on the lights, he covered his eyes as light flooded the down the isles as if he were picking up a toy, he chose a sleek, black motorcycle. He lifted himself onto the seat, slowly rolling towards the entrance and pass all the other automobiles in the garage. Once at the entrance, he pressed the close button. Seeing the shutter lower, he revved up the engine and shot out under it. Once cruising on the open road, he began looking for any suspicious activity.

He didn't see any, so he went straight to the café.

Stepping inside, he scanned the room quickly, looking for Sinead.

The small tables were cozily clustered together, and soft, comforting music played in background. The aromatic smell of baked goods and coffee beans was in the air, and Dan felt his stomach grumble in hunger. He took in the circular glass tables, the chandeliers shining on the terracotta rustic tiled floor and reflecting off the large windows that undoubtedly let in generous amounts of sunlight during the day, and the small vases of yellow carnation flowers on each table.

"Where are you, Sinead?" He mumbled to himself, turning his head around to look at the different customers.

Just then, someone clasped their hands around his eyes, obstructing his view. Dan's first reaction was to throw the person off, be he calmed as he heard the voice "Guess who!" Someone purred in his ear.

"Sinead." Dan groaned, rolling his eyes as she dropped her hands back. "Can't you think of a less aggravating way to say hi?"

Quickly slipping out of her grip, he motioned towards one of the more secluded tables, waking over with a purposeful stride.

Once settled in, they ordered some drinks, Sinead a mocha latte, and Dan some coffee. While waiting for their drinks to arrive, Sinead struck up some conversation in the awkward silence.

"So, why were you strutting like a turkey to the table?"

Dan frowned in confusion before realized what she was saying "That was a purposeful stride!" He spluttered in indignation.

Waving her hand in dismissal, she rolled her eyes. The ice was broken, they could talk normally now. "Yeah yeah. So, why'd you need to talk to me?"

"I...I think you can help me." Dan stuttered, trying to swallow his fear. What if this was a bad move? Its not like he'd get sent back in time _again._

"With what?" Sinead said, staring at him, over the rim of her latte. She took a sip, and swirled it around in her mouth, and then swallowed. "Okay, I'm a little confused. First you're rambling on about coming from the future. Dan, I hate to break it to you, but you look identical, you're not any older, and now I'm confusing myself. "

"I _AM_ from the future!" Dan almost shouted. But he remembered where they were, and managed to contain himself. "Remember what I told you? About that party?"

"Right." Sinead snorted. "I'm going to call Amy. She probably left something out that you managed to get your hands on." She pulled out her phone, and dialed Amy, ignoring Dan's protests. Dan took a deep breath. So he was going to have to play dirty. Damn Sinead and her logical brain, not believing him.

"Put down the phone" He said, intertwining his fingers and resting his chin on them. It was a trick he learned many years after the fire, interrogating suspects. Taking a sip of his coffee, he put up a front of being calm to put Sinead off.

Sinead frowned at the mature gesture from someone younger than her, but did as she was told. "Okay fine. Tell me one thing that's going to happen in the future that can't possibly be uncovered unless you're from the future."

Dan closed his eyes and tried to remember. It was so long ago, and he was so desperate to rid himself of the memories. Ironic that the only way he'd be able to change it is to dig them up again. But he had already changed the future a bit, and his future memories were being replaced by his present ones. He scrunched up his eyes and dug deep into himself, into a chat that the family had held moments before the fire, a chat where they'd all finally realized how they were being manipulated and laid it out to open.

"You... you're in a long distance relationship right now. He gave you an invite on a website for scientists. You're going to meet him in real life soon."

Sinead gasped. "How in the world do you know that?" She said, dropping the phone.

Dan smirked at the confusion etched across her face. "I'm from the future." He shrugged, as if it was normal for people to come from the future.

Sinead sighed. "Okay, okay. Let's start over." She paused, and took a deep breath. "What do you need help with?"

Dan grimaced, not knowing what to do now that he'd got what he wanted. Averting his eyes, he started slowly. "Well... You know your dream about the fire?"

"Yes...?" Sinead raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Well.." Dan cringed inwardly "Uhh.. that happens."

"Huh?" Sinead seemed puzzled, as if not understanding what he was implying. Dan didn't blame her.

"Umm.. You... die. Actually, everyone dies..." In a softer voice, almost a whisper under his breath, he added "Except me."

A few seconds passed as Sinead processed the information, before she finally reacted. Slamming her hands onto the tabled and shaking their drinks, she ignored the sudden attention on them "WHAT?!"

Dan shook his head, and placed a finger over his lips. "Shh!" He said, "They're looking at us!"

Sinead was panicking. "I die?" She said, disbelief etched on her face. "I don't wanna die!" She wailed, a frenzy of fear overtaking her. Grabbing Dan's hand, she cried "Help me!" with tears now running down her worried face. "Dan! I don't wanna die!"

Dan panicked, this was not how it was supposed to go at all. He was supposed to calmly discuss how to change it, not deal with a crying girl. Pulling her into a hug across the small table, he awkwardly patted her back, before whispering "Follow me. We don't want to gather attention."

They stepped out of the cafe after paying for their drinks, going under a cove of trees off the side.

"Okay, I'm going to tell you everything I know, including my entire relationship. You need to promise you won't get hysterical." Sinead sniffled in reply, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Crossing his fingers behind his back, he quickly filled her in on some of the most awkward and embarrassing moments, not leaving a single thing out. He didn't want to make a single mistake. There would be no going back, so he told her everything. Once he had finished, Sinead was completely calm. Pulling her face into a thoughtful expression, she looked at him. "So you think that Narcissus..." She paused, leaving the rest hanging.

Dan finished for her, "I think Narcissus is part of the group that kills everyone."

Sinead took a deep breath, looking at him with a stony expression. As she let the breath out, the tension on her face seemed to flow out. She looked at Dan with sympathetic eyes, touching his shoulder lightly.

"Don't worry, we'll fix it, I promise. Now, are you okay?"

Dan looked at her confusedly "Yeah, I am. Why?"

Sinead raised an eyebrow in skepticism "Dan, you just gave me a recount of your entire abusive relationship _in detail_ , only a short period after meeting your abuser. Are you _really_ okay?"

Dan stared at Sinead, and willed himself not to break down, to be macho. But he exploded. "No!" He said. "No, I'm not okay! What do you think its like for me, to watch my sister, and not be able to tell her that she is going to fucking _die_! It hurts me, but I can't say anything, because she's the type of person to go and confirm it with each person, and that wouldn't work at all! The closest people I have are going to die soon and all I'm doing is acting cowardly!" He wasn't meant to say it. Sinead had been talking about how he was after meeting Narcissus, but he instead ran his mouth about something completely different and much more personal.

Sinead stepped back, raising her hands in a pacifying motion. "Woah. Deep thoughts for one so young. I think that all we can do is..."

Dan cut her off. "What? What can we do? I've searched my mind, racked my brain, and I couldn't think of anything, and then _you_ sit down, and in five minutes have a solution? I don't believe it! And plus, I'm older than you!" Dan glared, at Sinead, his arms crossed, waiting for her response.

It was true. He had wanted to confide in someone, but now that he'd done it he had no idea what to do.

Sinead seemed to be studying him intently, and he stared straight back.

Opening her mouth, she started talking slowly. "You've told me the future. But you've also already changed the present. Tell me in detail what you did."

Dan took several deep breaths, musing about how he was doing it a lot more often. Seemed like he was more susceptible to emotional bursts now than when he was older. Uncrossing his arms, he began to narrate everything that had happened since he woke up. Cringing slightly at the moments that emotions had taken hold of him, Dan went over everything he changed, finally stopping at the chat they were having right now.

Sinead hummed in thought after he finished, her eyes wandering. "We could bluff Narcissus. Or double bluff her. The point is.." she stared straight into Dan's eyes with a ferocity that he didn't see before as he audibly gulped "Dan, are you willing to become a dual spy? You're on our side, obviously, but you must be willing to infiltrate their ranks and give up some information for them to trust you. Make them believe you're loyal to them, and that you're sneaking into our ranks for them, when it's actually the opposite. Do you understand me?"

Dan stared into Sinead's eyes, and he saw her resolution at the plan succeeding. He remembered her terror at being told she was going to die, and imagined Amy with the same terror. If he wasn't going to do anything for himself, he'd do it for Amy, he decided. "Yes." He answered clearly. "I'm willing. I understand."

They stood up and brushed off the leaves that had fallen on them, ready to part as adults. Turning around, they began walking away, before the same thought entered their mind simultaneously. Spinning around, they ran back after each other, almost colliding in the groove.

"How are-am you-I going to get in?!" They whisper-shouted at each other. Looking at each other, laughs bubbled out as they giggled at their absurdity.

But that moment was gone all too quickly, as the gravity of the situation settled in again and Dan said to Sinead, "I don't know how, but I will, somehow, and we'll communicate, somehow, and this will all work out, somehow." He gave a small grin, hoping she'd understand his sincerity.

Sinead smiled back "Somehow." Then the happy expression vanished off her face, and she said, "Dan, if I die, just remember, I'll be waiting for you in hell."

Dan gave her a grim smirk "You don't have to worry about that, I've been there already and they made me their king."


	2. Chapter 2

**Addict: Yes! *pumps fist* I finally got rid of that imposter! She got the advantage last time because she got here first. But this time . . . I got here! You know how she said we coauthored this? She lied!**  
 **SHE WROTE ALLL OF IT!**

 **INAGW: *slowly edges in* *whispers* she's lying,,,,, we wrote it together,,,, she wrote more than me,,,, im not and impostor im a friend...**  
 ***stands up* Hey guys! Now, I'm sure a lot of you realized this already, but Addict and I, we were literally making up the story as we wrote it. Yeah. Due to that, there may be a few inconsistent things here and there *cough*continuity errors*cough* so we ask of you to point out any that you may catch so we can go back and fix it? I think?**

 **Addict: Fine. She's not an imposter. She might even be my best friend . . . but who said that? Not me! :DDDDDDD**  
 ***covers Inagw's ear* *whispers* But I still think she wrote all of it. *uncovers ears***  
 **Yes! Please point out any errors you see, cuz with me writing this, you're going to need it! And also! (I think you know what I'm going to say . . . . ) REVIEW!**  
 **Inagw, anything else? Besides that fact that we love all of you?**

 **INAGW: Well the only thing I'll say is that naming the building Alchimeter was not an intentional reference,,,,, it just kinda happened,,,, I had no other interesting word and Observatory didn't sound enticing enough and by the time I realized what word I actually used it was too late... Pen I'm looking at you.**

 **Addict: Wait . . . Alchimeter? What's wrong with that? Pls explain to us dull and boring people. :DDDDD**

 **INAGW: *softly* this week on, I didn't know it was Homestuck**

 **Addict: Ohhhhh...ok, I'm glad it wasn't something that I would have known. I would have felt dumber than I already do . . . .**  
 **So, Inagw, anything else?**

 **INAGW: nah I think that's it. Also thanks for sticking with us for so long! *finger guns***

 **Addict: Echoing Inagw . . . . . . Enjoy! (the good parts Inagw wrote . . .) :D**

* * *

The next day was by no means a pleasant morning for Dan. He had already stayed up the entire night after he had parted with Sinead in the late evening, and the slivers of sunlight that filtered through his thick curtains reminded him how much time he had wasted. Stretching out, he rubbed from his eyes the sleep dust that had accumulated. He had spent the entire night hunched over the glowing light of the screen, scanning line after line of texts from Narcissus to see if he could glean any useful information.

It proved to be fruitless, however, and Dan only actually figured out that Narcissus was good at keeping character even in the most challenging spots. Calling Sinead, he asked if she had figured out anything useful from his phone.

"No." Sinead said, sounding just as tired as he felt. "All I want to know is why you kept talking to her. I mean, first she ignore you until you send her like 100+ messages, then finally messages you back, and _then_ sends you another 467 when you won't answer ONE!"

Dan didn't answer for a minute. "Wait...she sent me that many?" He didn't quite remember _that_.

"Yes!" Sinead exclaimed. "Are you sure you're ok? I mean, your future self had enough time to cope with the abuse, but your present self–never mind. I'm confusing even _my_ genius brain."

Dan shook his head in bemusement, before directing his attention back to her. "I'm fine." He said seriously, meaning it. "It true that if feel myself being distracted more and more often due to me transitioning back to my younger body. But it's still fine. It's great to be back into a younger body, even if I feel myself turning back into the old Dan in small ways."

The other side was silent, so Dan rambled on. "So did you find any bugs or trace anything?"

Sinead gasped as if remembering something and Dan felt his hopes soar. Maybe their efforts hadn't been so fruitless after all.

"Yeah! I found a small bug inside your phone. I dissected it and man, was this little thing _packed_. She basically could see everything you were doing from the phone. From accessing the cameras to see where you are, to illegally finding your location, to even reading your messages! Though, it seems the last one hadn't been activated yet, so you're safe."

"What?" Dan gasped. "But how? Wouldn't she have too have my phone to plant a bug on it? She didn't see me until...yesterday, and..." He continued ranting, then stopped abruptly. "Wait, Sinead. What if yesterday wasn't the first day she saw me?"

"Dan . . ." Sinead said, sighing. "Um, when was the first day you met her?"

Dan paused. "Ummm...maybe early January? I know it was after New Years, but before Valentines, cause I sent her a little emoji via instant messaging saying Happy Hearts Day which means I was already talking to her by then . . .why?"

"Hmmm," Sinead said, her voice serious. "The bug was put on January 15."

Dan laughed uncertainly, wondering if Sinead had been joking. "You're . . . you're kidding, right?"

"No?" Sinead trailed off, before finally realizing that Dan didn't know of this. "Oh my god! Did this not happen in your future? Or did you just not realize?"

"I don't think it happened!" Dan whispered, panicking. "Let's see, I met her game character , "Dragon", in late October. We became mutuals in early November, and by the end of last year we had each other's contact information. At this point in time, we've only just reached our one year anniversary. _It_ happens at the half mark of our first year. In a couple months, maybe?"

"Irrelevant, irreverent!" Sinead said, probably waving her hand on the other side of the phone. "Dan, you started messaging her personally on that day in January. You messaged her privately for all the times before that. The important thing is, who gave you that phone?"

Dan racked his memories, realizing it was easier and he didn't have to go as far back due to his older self's memories fading. When he remembered how he got the phone, his heart stopped as the pieces began fitting together.

"Sinead . . ." Dan said, his voice low, "I was buying a new phone, because my old one was . . ." He stopped, trying to remember. "I don't know what was wrong with it." He concluded. "But anyway, this really cute sales-chic offered to help me." He blushed, as the memory flooded back to him. "She was so gorgeous, her deep hazel eyes, and her long black hair . . ."

"Dan." Sinead said. "Stop. Continue with your other story. I don't need to hair about your likes and dislikes in the female gender."

"It's definitely not you." Dan retorted, and Sinead replied with an indignant yell for him to continue the story.

"Oh. Right." Dan said, thankful Sinead couldn't see how red his face was. "So . . . she was really aggressive about buying a certain kind of phone. Finally I agreed, and then she reached out and grabbed one and handed it to me. I just thought she was being flirty, seeing as she made sure our hands touched. But, Sinead, I think she was working for them. Why else would she make sure I buy _that_ phone?"

"Dan..." Sinead said, her voice lowering in pitch as she got more serious. "I need to see your old phone."

"What?" But, Dan mused, at least she wasn't making fun of when his sexual attraction overwhelmed his rationality.

"I said, 'I need your old phone!' You used to chat with Narcissus on that right? Using obscure chatting apps and what not. She might have been able to remotely turn off your phone so you could get the one with the bug!"

Dan slapped his forehead and dragged it down his face, exclaiming, "47 years after the incident and this never once occurred to me. I'm an idiot."

Sinead laughed, "Yes, yes, you are. Now I need your phone. Same place, same time as last night?"

Dan thought for a minute. "No . . . they'll figure out that's our meeting place eventually. How 'bout your apartment? No...that wouldn't work either. Then you'd be a target."

Sinead cut in. "Dan, I already am. I die, remember?"

Dan nodded, even though Sinead couldn't see him. "I know. But I don't want it to happen again, which is why we're doing all this? Where do you suggest?"

Dan could almost see Sinead smiling as she replied. "Walmart, the one four minutes from the CCC. Its such a low-key place. See you in two hours. You go in the grocery door, I'll go in the home. Let's meet at . . . checkout 8."

Dan hung up and promptly deleted any record of their call, including Sinead's number. He already memorized it, so it wasn't a problem. Slinging not-his bag onto his shoulder, he started heading out, only to be blocked by Amy at the door.

"Dan. Where are you going?" Dan rolled his eyes at the motherly tone, he was too old to deal with this. Amy had her hands crossed across her chest and had what she must have thought was an authoritative look on her face, but that instead just made her look mildly congested.

"Going to meet up with Sinead." He said, hoping she would let him aside like last time, but instead she frowned and blocked his way even further.

"Dan. I know you're doing something behind my back." She said forcefully. Dan didn't even flinch.

"Yeah. Like, writing a book?" He said sarcastically, giving her a pointed look.

"Oh yeah. Tell me what it's about."

His mind blanked out for a second as he started grabbing at loose strings, stuttering as Amy gave him a satisfied look. "It's a story about a b-girl! A girl who wakes us in the past!" Dan blurted, pressured into saying his own story with a different gender. "She uhh . . ." He paused, frantically searching for something believable to say. "Umm . . . the future had something bad so she tries to change the past even if it meant in her own death. Yeah. See you later!"

He bodily pushed past her, ignoring her incredulous look. "It seems interesting!" She called after him as he ran out the door.

Dan ran out to garage and selected a motorcycle, then realized a motorcycle isn't exactly an anonymous vehicle. He pulled out their Impala and turned it on. Amy peeked out. "Dan? Why are you taking that?"

Dan racked his brain for a simple explanation. "Uhh . . . Sinead doesn't like to ride on a motorcycle . . .so . . . I'm bringing this." Dan mentally chided himself. He was such a unbelievable idiot.

Amy arched her eyebrows suspiciously. "Ok . . .bye . . . have fun."

Dan nodded, and backed out, but crashed into the garage door. It was still down. _Ooops._

"Dan!" Amy yelled from the doorway as he tried to hear her over the sounds of the car beeping. "Do you really want to get away from me that badly?"

"I'm . . ." Dan racked his brain for a reasonable excuse. Wait . . . the meetup was in Walmart, right? "I'm . . . going grocery shopping before I meet her! I really need . . . a new notebook! Do you need anything?"

"No . . ." Amy's face slackened as she waved him goodbye.

Dan drove along, his heart beating with guilt and worry, until he came to the designated Walmart. Sinead was no doubt waiting at already. Pulling into the parking lot, he hopped out and tried to stay casual.

(Haven't edited beyond this point)

His stomach was in knots as he realized the implications of today's chat. If all went well, he would confront Narcissus and pretend to be totally in her control, before infiltrating their organization. His heart dropped with dread as even his mature mind couldn't keep him calm. This was testing new waters, and he wasn't sure if he'd have a second chance this time.

He stood in the parking lot for a while, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart, and his jumbled nerves. After several minutes of staring at the shopping cart racks, he grabbed a cart and headed inside. The bustling metropolis that was Walmart almost calmed Dan's nerves as he stared at the people hurrying, rushing, even scurrying around.

He walked quickly over to checkout eight, grabbing a pack of soda and two candy bars.

Sinead was no where to be seen.

Dan's heart stopped in place, then skipped several beats as his mind jumped to the worst conclusions. He spun his head around wildly, looking for any trace of the auburn head. Where was she? "Please make her just be late." Dan prayed, just as she popped into view.

"Dan! There you are!" She cried out cheerfully.

Dan's heartbeat slowed down as he processed the happy, _living_ Sinead in front of him. Running across the tiled floor, he pulled her into a hug, squeezing her tighter at the surprised sound.

"Don't scare me like that. We're so close. We can't lose each other now."

Sinead pulled away. Smirking at him, she tried to cover how shaken she was by the reminder by pulling a joke. "Oh Dan, are you confessing to me?"

Dan stared at Sinead, trying to process what she was saying. "No." He groaned, finally getting it. "We need to get started. Buy what items you have, and then meet me outside. I'm parked in section F. Black impala. "

Sinead nodding, her intent green eyes boring into Dan's. "Ok." She agreed, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face. "See you in a few."

Waiting in the car, Dan closed his eyes and tried to calm down. It shouldn't scare him, not after all this time. But it did. It terrified him, made ice run through his veins, made his eyes twitch with terror, his breath quicken.

Maybe it just signified that he was almost back to how he was before. He only had snatches of the future now, desperate memories that he as an old man tried to cling to. Luckily he had already written out everything yet again. He didn't know what he would do without his notebook.

Sinead had been getting necessary gear to set up the fraud plan that Dan would then spoil to Narcissus, slowly but surely trapping her in a web only he could see. She would think he had him a marionette dancing on stings, when he was slowly winding her tighter and tighter.

A bloodthirsty smile slid onto Dan's face, and he couldn't bring himself to get rid of it.

Pulling out his phone, he nodded to where Sinead entered the car, dragging in an assortment of party supplies and tech gear that he was pretty sure wasn't sold at Walmart. Shaking his head, he looked back down at his screen.

Tensing himself, he clicked Narcissus name, typing out his message. **"Hey Narcissus. I'm really sorry about the notes. I was having a bad day and I took it out on your name and I'm really sorry about it. Will you forgive me? Everything was a lie, you're the best thing that ever happened to me."**

Dan cringed with disgust with each word typed, finally hitting send. As a final afterthought, he sent a heart emoji right after his note.

He waited for a while, but there was no response, which was surprising. Narcissus must have been really pissed. Or at least, she must have had to seemed really pissed. At this point, he couldn't even tell the difference between her real self and the girl she played.

Dan turned the car on, and drove out of the parking lot. Right when he got home, his phone chimed. Trying to feign excitement, just in case Narcissus had planted anything anywhere, he fumbled with the phone and read her message. **  
"You should be sorry. ):"**

Hurriedly, he typed out. **"I am. So so sorry. Please forgive me."** He sent it, and then, in order to seem desperate, sent another one seconds after.

 **"Hey, Amy's having a party, and do you want to come?"**

 **"What's the party for?"** Dan swiveled his head to look at where Sinead was fiddling with some wires in the backseat. Getting her attention, he mouthed out the question.

Sinead wrote a reply on the receipt, holding it up to Dan. Dan nodded once, indicating he read it, and she dropped it, going back to work. **"It's a surprise party my sister came up with, I snuck in and found out about it."**

 **"Yeah, but what is it about?"**

 **"I think it's something"** , Dan gulped, hoping it wouldn't come off as stiff or fake. Everything was resting on this text. **"like an exchanging information party."**

 **"Ooh!"** Narcissus replied, quickly. Too quickly. Dan could almost hear her obnoxious squeal, and he mentally cringed, but he tried to look excited. **"I love exchanging info parties!"** followed by several smileys and lots of exclamation points

Dan stared at his phone, and wrinkled his nose. What should he say in reply? Finally, after much thought, he decided on, **"Yay! See you then, its at six, but will you come at 6:30 so I can introduce you to everyone?"**

He internally crossed his fingers, hoping that would work. Maybe he could give his family a heads up.

 **"Okay then babe! I love you! *kiss emoji* Bye~"** Dan had never closed the chatting app so fast.

"I love exchanging info parties!" He muttered in a falsetto under his breath, poking fun at Narcissus mentally. "You probably have no idea what it even is." Glaring at Sinead who was languidly ignoring him, he added "I don't even know what that is."

Turning of the phone completely and handing it to Sinead, she expertly tuned the bugs to hear and see a false feed of the noises background radio and Dan humming along and driving. She turned to the real Dan and placed the bugged phone aside.

"So I'm guesssing you're wondering what an 'exchanging info party' is.." she said as Dan rolled his eyes. "Well, to put it simply, it's not one. It was just fake information so that Narcissus could tell her higher ups, and they'd be interested in getting information so that they'd send her. The party is actually just for Grace's Death Aniversary. Amy said that Grace wouldn't want her memory to be remembered so somberly so she decided to throw a remeberance party instead."

Dan didn't recall that specific bit of information, but then again his knowledge of the future was quickly fading so he supposed it didn't matter.

He drove home and flicked on the radio, listening as Sinead hummed along to whatever old fashioned music was playing. He much preferred the music that was coming up in the future. _So_ much better than this crap.

When he reached the driveway, he pulled in, and said to Sinead, "By the way, I'll be telling Amy that you're helping me with a book I'm writing . . . so . . . just stick to that story, ok?"

Sinead nodded, her attention on the jumble of wires, and . . . the Snickers he bought?

"Hey!" Dan said, nodding towards the Snickers. "Gimme one!"

Sinead looked at him, and snorted. "Right. No way. Do you need therapy?"

Dan rolled his eyes. "Right now, I'm in an abusive relationship, of course I do!"

Sinead sighed, and tossed him a bar. He peeled it open, savoring the sticky smell of the candy.

They got out the car, Sinead glancing around secretively before dashing off with her supplies to one of the guest rooms, a temporary base. Dan rolled his eyes, but finished parking the car and started taking a different route to the room to avoid attention.

Walking outside, he groaned through a mouthful of caramel, chocolate, and crushed peanuts as he heard one of the neighbors blasting the same song that has been on repeat on the radio. Oh, how he looked forward to when the singer was admitted into rehab after a drug overdose.

Sprinting away from where the song was grating on his ears, he burst into the living room, where he almost chocked on his candy when he sad Sinead was chatting nonchalantly with Amy. He stared at her, mouth open and only managing monosyllabas she leveled him with a flat stare "Wha-How...You.. Up?" He finished lamely.

Sinead gave him a pointed stair, indicating that she had already set up her equipment and came down to talk to Amy as to make a believable lie. At least, that's what Dan hoped that look meant.

The two siblings stared at each other, they're faces masking their real emotions. _"Does she know?"_ Dan wondered.

He looked at Sinead, who mouthed something that looked like, "Tell her."

 _"What the heck?"_ He thought. _"That was NOT how things were supposed to go."_

He looked at Sinead, shaking his head. He didn't confide in someone who he though would back of of the plan.

Amy looked from Dan, to Sinead. "Dan." She said, her teeth tightly clenched. "Sinead tells me there's a reason you've been acting weird."

Dan glared daggers at Sinead. If looks could kill, Sinead would be dead twenty times over by now.

Well, lucky for him and unluckily for Sinead, he was a better liar now than ever before. If she wanted to play dirty, he'd play dirty. He didn't have to tell Amy _anything_ that'd get her in harms way.

Looking at Amy, he slid his eyes away in a fake display of insecurity before mumbling. "I guess Sinead told you then."

"Told me what?"

He burst out with the lie, having thought it out, fixed it, and edited it within seconds "She told you that she wants me to go to a psychologist because I use my character as a vent character and the things my character is going through is worrisome and that she's worried about my mental health." Inside, Dan did a little happy dance. It was perfect. No one could call him out on anything.

Amy stared at Sinead. "She did?" Her voice was confused, and she turned to Sinead. "I didn't get quite _that . . ._ " She let her voice trail off.

Sinead glared at Dan, her perfectly manicured eyebrows arched.

Dan smiled innocently, and then turned to Amy. "So." He said, sighing. "When's my appointment?

Amy gave him a sincere look of pity and said "Oh Dan, you don't have to go. You could always just talk to us."

Dan nodded then turned to the stairs "Well, I have to go now. Sinead is welcome upstairs, right?"

"Of course! And don't worry, no appointments to the therapist."

Sinead gave him a dirty glare, to which he just rolled his eyes, and motioned to follow him. The climbed the stairs in silence, reaching the room and slowly shutting the door behind them.

"I can't believe you did that!" Sinead burst, but Dan had already prepared a reply.

"It's your fault for telling me to tell her!" He snarled hotly "Why would you do that after all the plans to keep it a secret and NOT tell her?!"

Sinead flinched, then deflated. "Yeah. You're right. Sorry about that, you just found the best way out. I was just talking about the party with Amy, and then the topic strayed to you . . .so . . ."

Dan felt the anger still bubbling, simmering right under his skin, but he forced it down. Sinead had apologized. He turned briskly to the bulletin board that was hanging on the wall, studying the notes. Moments after, she shuffled to her equipment and the sounds of tinkering filled the empty room.

A couple of days later, Dan shuffled around the house nervously, trying to look excited, in case Narcissus was watching, and also trying not to look too excited, so that Amy wouldn't know he knew.

The day passed slowly, and Dan thought up possible explanations for why he invited Narcissus. Finally, he decided that it would just be best to tell the truth.

He sought Amy out, and like a nervous child, told her that he had something to tell her.

Well, not the entire truth. The headaches were no longer a problem, he could shape this future however so he desired. "Amy!" He yelled, getting her attention from where she was cooking a huge array of baked goods. She said it was for a bake sale, but Dan knew better.

Amy mumbled something about "letting it sit for 30 minutes" and then turned to Dan. "Yes?"

Dan shuffled uncomfortably, suddenly feeling like a teenager under the harsh glare of their parents. "I uhh . . . I have a girlfriend."

Amy didn't explode like he expected to, but she did widen her eyes quite a bit. Dan supposed she expected he had been keeping a secret, just not this big one. "And?"

"And uhh..." He stumbled, stuttering. "I-I inv-vi-" he bit his lip, cursing internally. Looking up at Amy's unhurried expression, he calmed himself down. "I invited her over today!" He trailed off "If that's okay with you . . ."

He noticed where Amy realized her brother's girlfriend would come to the party but suddenly saying no would seem weird so she'd have to improvise for someone new at the party. And she nodded, and went back to her baking. "Sure, I'd love to meet my brothers secret lover."

Dan sighed as he walked away. It had gone so much better than he'd planned. She hadn't freaked out . . . thankfully.

Then, as an afterthought, he turned around and said. "Her name is Narcissus."

Amy gasped. "But...she's in your book?!"

Dan nodded. "That wasn't a book, Amy. That was my journal. I just...put William in there instead of me, I was afraid you'd find it."

Amy was confused. She took a tray of muffins out of the oven, and then turned to him. "So, wait . . . did some of that happen?"  
Dan paused, contemplating how to answer. If only he'd remembered what Amy had read in his journal.

Amy continued, mumbling "But it was fantasy . . ." and then he suddenly remembered the part she was reading to him that day.

"Well, the only part that was real is the name. William doesn't act anything like me, right? It's a good think I stopped that story and am writing my new one . . ." Noting Amy's increasing confusion, he backtracked. "So like, it's a journal to write my story in, but I changed my name to William so you wouldn't think I had a girlfriend I based Narcissus on. But I kept Narcissus's name there as a dedication of sorts. But then now I'm writing my new story about the girl in the past so . . ." he looked at Amy hopefully, hoping she'd come up with an explanation on her own and rid Dan's need to make one up.

Amy's eyes lit up with understanding, and she nodded. "Soooo, you started to write a fantasy romance in your journal starring you and your girlfriend, but you censored your name from me, and now you're writing a new story with Sinead!"

Dan heaved a sigh of relief "Yes! Yes! That's exactly it."

He walked out, feeling slightly better.

"Oh, Dan?" Amy called out after him.

He turned around, an innocent expression on his face. "Yes?"

"Put that cookie back."

Dan sighed and placed the cookie back on the cooling rack, staring at it longingly.

Amy looked at Dan curiously, as if she was trying to place something. "Dan?" She questioned. "You don't mind if all of our relatives are coming over tonight, do you?"

Dan feigned surprise and said, "NO . . . not really, I guess, then Narcissus can meet all of them!" He tried to sound excited, but he mentally cringed, knowing what the evening would most likely entail.

Amy exhaled in relief, obviously worrying about what he'd think. As he turned away, she called out to him, throwing a warm muffin in his direction. He grabbed it out of the air, tossing her a grin and heading out. Everything was in place.

 _The day of the party._

He waited in nervous anticipation, anticipation for this whole thing to be over. He didn't _really_ want to see Narcissus, and he didn't _really_ want Narcissus to meet his family. That was _definitely_ cringe-worthy.

He thought about what he would say. "Hey. You're going to kill my family." Just didn't seem like an acceptable phrase, while neither did, "Get your sorry little ass out of my house, you fucking murderer."

Dan (finally) decided to call Sinead, and she answered on the first ring.

"I need help." He said.

Sinead sighed. "With what?"

Dan rolled his eyes, knowing she couldn't see him. "What do you think?"

"Oh my god!" Sinead gasped. "Did you get your period?!"

Dan couldn't help the snort of laughter from escaping as he heard Sinead make a noise of approval. Reprimanding her, he tried to control his silent laughter "Sinead! Be serious!"

"Okay, okay! But you've got to admit, that was funny." Her voice suddenly dropping to a more serious tone, she continued. "It's fine. Just invite her over, spoil her, convince her you'd do anything for her, hey who knows maybe you'll even get a shot at sex-"

At Dan's scandalized gasp, she broke out into peals of laughter before finishing "-Sorry, sorry! Anyway the party starts at six and you'll pick her up at six-thirty. I have to finish scanning these documents . . . so bye."

 _"What documents?"_ Dan wondered. Typical Sinead. Although, he had to admit he was enjoying the jokey side of her. He picked up his phone and texted Narcissus: "I am so hyped that you _finally_ get to meet my family."

Within seconds she replied. **"Me too. But I'm mostly happy that I'll finally get to see you...and not through a screen."**

Dan tried not to look grossed out as he responded. **"Same. See you in a bit. Remember six-thirty...fashionably late."**

 **"Ooo! I love fashion :P"**

Dan rolled his eyes and sat staring blankly at the wall, both wishing for six thirty to come, and also, at the same time, willing it never to.

As six o'clock rolled around, Amy got increasingly agitated as more and more guest filed in, rushing around to fix last minute preparations. All the guests thought it was a normal dinner, not knowing the overlying theme, which Amy was going to reveal later in the day.

Sinead came in first, immediately heading to the back to discuss party plans with Amy. Dan, pretending not to notice, instead milled around and greeted guests.

When it was a quarter past six and even the fashionably late Kabra made an appearance, Dan headed out to pick up Narcissus from their temporary stakeout-APARTMENT (that was suspiciously located in place where you could see the entire Cahill Mansion from the front window-BUT HE DIDN'T KNOW THAT).

He got in the car, pretending to be anxious. (He was sick of all this pretending). He swallowed, and knocked on the door that he hoped was Narcissus'.

"Come in." A chirpy voice said from inside.

To Dan, it sounded like a lure, but he swallowed, and stepped inside.

Immediately he was assaulted with and obscene amount of overly pink furniture. He almost choked on the sensual perfume that had been sprayed everywhere. The air was heavy with a flowery scent he found it impossible to breath.

Narcissus was wearing a dress that looked more like . . . a long shirt. Dan bit his tongue, resisting the urge to ask if it was actually one.

He smiled and said, "You ready, babe?"

Narcissus smiled back at him, but it looked more like she was baring her teeth. He took her arm and escorted her to the car.

Dan felt sweat trickling down the back of his neck as Narcissus studied him with with glinting eyes in the shadow of the dark car. He counted the seconds, unconsciously stepping on the accelerator harder and harder till he was several miles above the speed limit.

Narcissus snapped back into her role and immediately screeched "AHH! Dan! Too fast!"

He hit the brakes and swerved around a turn, skidding several feet off the lane and dint the next. Pointedly not looking at the girl, he eased off into their private lane and parked. Grinning sheepishly at her, he shrugged "Haha, gotcha! Wasn't that exciting?"

She glared at him and stalked off towards the house, the shirt/dress hugging tightly to her body and making it hard for her to walk. Once she was out of hearing distance, Dan snorted at the outrageous outfit, before following her inside.

He opened the door, grabbed her hand, and led her inside. "Guys." He said, clearing his throat.

Everyone in the room sat stock still. Hamilton gasped and muttered, "Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor."

Narcissus grinned at the effect she was making on the astonished Cahills.

"This is my girlfriend, Narcissus." Dan said, trying to smile brightly, like he was excited. He squeezed her hand, and then led her to the kitchen, ignoring Ian's mumbled, "What the hell is she wearing?

Mentally though, his heart kept out to the disgruntled Kabra and he yelled _"Right, right?! It's ridiculous! You can't even call it a dress!"_

Outside of course, he just threw a raspberry in his direction and stuck out his tongue when the dark haired man rolled his eyes.

He held Narcissus's hand and headed over to where Amy was talking to some guests. Her jade eyes lit up when seeing Dan, then immediately dropped as she laid eyes on Narcissus.

Coughing lightly, she held out her hand to the blonde, smiling tightly. "You must be Narcissus. It's pleasure to meet you."

Narcissus gave a sugary sweet smile and replied "Yes, that's me. And you must be the famous Amy Cahill. Dan has told me _a lot_ about you.

Amy narrowed her eyes. "Has he now? That's. . ." She paused, looking for the right words to say. "Nice." She finished, looking at Dan as if to say, _"Who is this, and how did you meet her?"_

Grabbing Narcissus' hand again, and trying to act like the eager boyfriend, he led her over to Sinead, where he plopped her down and said, "You two will be great friends, I just know it!" Then he smirked at Sinead. "I'll be back with some punch." He said, ignoring the stabbing look Sinead sent his way.

He hurried off, breathing a sigh of relief.

Once out of their sight, he froze. What was he going to do now? Narcissus will have no doubt realized this was a normal party, and reported that it was not actually a information exchanging party like he had told her.

Luckily he left her with Sinead, and she would have no doubt have something up her sleeve to throw them off.

He walked into the kitchen, almost bumping into Ian, who looked at him and blurted, "Who is that?"

Dan frowned. Should he tell Ian? Almost immediately, he decided not to, and said, "Um, my girlfriend . . . duh."

"What is she wearing?" Ian asked.

Dan sighed. "I don't know." He said, grabbing two cookies and a muffin, he walked back into the living room, where Narcissus was blabbing on and on to Sinead about . . . Sephora?

Why Sinead would be interested in makeup made no sense to Dan, but he played along, and handed each girl a cookie.

Narcissus grinned cheerfully and Dan felt a shiver travel up his spine as she grabbed Dan and pulled him away. Turning to him, she puckered up and kissed him on the lips, and Dan did everything he could to not immediately wipe his mouth on his sleeve.

"Dan, baby." She crooned "Why did you tell me it was an exchanging info party? It looks like a normal party to me."

 _Oh shit here it comes._ "Well, I overheard my sister say that they were going to exchange info with an outside source, and then have a party, so I thought they were one in the same."

Narcissus's eyes flashed, and she leaned in closer _Hook, line, and sinker_ "Oh Dan, do you want to do something to make me happy? Y'know the day I took your bag and found those notes I was very very sad."

Leave it to girls to bring up the past that was already laid to rest. He already apologized for that! But for the plan to work . . .

Plastering an eager look on his face, he nodded. "Yes, Narcissus, anything to make it up for you!"

"Okay... I want you to find out what information they're talking about and tell me it. Every. Word. And if you do good, I'll give you a special prize." She winked and Dan visibly shuddered. Luckily in the darkness of the corner she pulled him into, she didn't seem to notice.

Narcissus clamped an iron hand on Dan's shoulder. "If you don't." She said, glaring at him. "I'll do much, much more than burn your _notes_."

Dan's mind raced, and he struggled to get away from her strong grasp. "Yeah." He said. "But...what do you mean by information?" He said, trying to play it innocent.

Narcissus narrowed her eyes. "Dan." She said. "You know exactly what I mean."

He didn't. But he had to pretend to, or they'd all die, right now.

For all he knew, they probably had the place rigged with a couple bombs.

He nodded. "Ok. You're right."

Dan cautiously opened the door, and looked into the dark room. Just as he was about to shut it, and go somewhere else, Sinead's face suddenly appeared from behind the door and said, "Boo!"

Dan jumped, and he glared at Sinead. "Why'd you do that?" He asked, slightly irritated. He'd just had to spend two _whole_ hours with Narcissus, which was definitely not something he'd want to do all the time.

Sinead smirked. "Because." She said. Then her voice lowered and her face turned serious. She held up a piece of notebook paper with something written on it that Dan had to squint to see. It read: "Do you have any bugs?"

Dan nodded, and motioned to his shirt. Then he said loudly, "I hate these party clothes, I'm going to go change into something a tad bit more comfortable. Be back in a sec."

When he came back, Sinead smiled, and said. "Good job tonight. We actually had a meeting." (Dan didn't bother to wonder how, Amy and Sinead could do _anything._ ) "Now let's work on information to feed her, what should be real, and what should be false. "

Dan nodded, sitting down at the table and pouring himself a cup of tea from the pot sitting there.

"So what was the meeting about?" He asked, putting sugar cube after sugar cube into the cup as Sinead looked away from where he was basically drinking a cup of sugar.

"You won't believe it. They're proposing we move out Command Center to . . . guess."

Dan swallowed a sugary sip and widened his eyes. "To the Alchemiter."

Sinead nodded. "The building where we die. I think we can successfully say that this timeline is moving along a lot more quickly than your timeline,-"

"-So we're going to have to do things quicker." Dan finished.

Sinead agreed and stated pulling out papers from who knows where. "So here's the plan. You tell her that were moving in a month, something we haven't yet established. If we say a month, they'll take a little more time planting their bugs and what not. You'll ALSO say that nothing will stay in the old command center, which is untrue."

"Once Narcissus invites you to the group, you're going to file information about them to us-I mean, me, and I'll analyze it. Once we have enough info, we'll reveal the whole scandal to the rest of the family and clear them out once and for all."

Dan set his empty cup aside, mumbling to himself. "Hopefully by then none of them will be completely dependent of their other half. You already distanced yourself from Daturas, right?"

"Yes, but Amy hasn't from Oleander. She still things he's a depressed boy that needs her help."

Dan clicked his tongue and bit his lip."The quicker I get into his ranks the better."

"That's right. Now go and call Narcissus, you need to gossip a little."

A little while later, Dan sat in his room, typing out a text to Narcissus. "Hey . . . got some really good stuff for you. When can we meet?"

Within seconds, there was a reply. "I'll come over and pick you up."

"Ok." Dan texted back, swallowing. This was moving along too fast.

He stood up, running a hand through his longish hair, trying to calm his racing heart.

Within minutes, there was a knock at the door. Trying not to be surprised at how fast Narcissus arrived, he opened the door.

There she stood, in something possibly even more skimpy than last night. Dan fought the rising bile in his throat, looking anywhere besides the v-neck that was so deep that it basically covered none of her body. "Hey Dan! Let's go over my house and have a nice long chat."

Dan nodded, smiling in what he hoped was a loving way at Narcissus. "Yeah." He followed her to her car, pretending not to notice what looked mysteriously like blood on the seat once he got in. The stench was overwhelming, the smell of strong roses and rot and decay fighting in his nose and threatening him to faint.

He worked so hard to not throw up, he didn't even realize when they got there. He hurriedly got out, desperately taking in big gulps of fresh air while following her. He stepped into the darkened house, shivering as it felt like stepping into a layer of cool fog.

Narcissus sat him down and got herself comfortable in the chair across him. It felt like an interrogation, and Dan knew it was. But she was a good agent. She wouldn't get stright to it.

"So babe, how was your day?"

"Good. I missed you though."

"Aww. . . me too. Thanks for inviting me to the party yesterday!"

"How could I not introduce my girlfriend to my family?"

"It was still really sweet of you. By the way, did you do what I told you to?"

At this, Narcissus leaned forward and Dan knew the game was really about to begin. "I did."

"Really?" A giggle and a toss of her hair, "Can you tell me about it? Remember, if you tell me everything you get a promotion!"

Dan took a deep breath, and began blurting out "secrets". Some of which were true, some of which were made up. Narcissus ate it up, her face beaming. After he finished, he sighed, and said, "Is that good?"

Narcissus nodded, a greedy expression on her face. "You'll get promoted." She said, winking at him, and then somehow managing to bend over, giving Dan an amazing view down her shirt. He ignored this, and instead smiled. "Cool! What do I have to do?"

Narcissus pulled the car over to the side of the road. She leaned over Dan (causing him to get a whiff of strong perfume) she opened the glove box, and pulled out a knife, and several official looking papers.

Looking at Dan deeply in the eyes, she gave her best puppy dog look, which incidentally, looked more like a deadpan pout to Dan. Leaning over to the passengers car, she started talking, "Dan, do you really want to help me? Would you do anything?"

Dan nodded enthusiastically, "Yes!"

Narcissus grinned, probably relishing how she had him wrapped around her little finger. Pushing the papers towards him, she held his hand, "Then you can join my group! You have to promise to keep it a at though!" She winked.

Dan nodded again, eyes the knife warily. Narcissus handed the intricately carved knife to high, placing the cool handle on his sweaty hands. Looking at Narcissus confusedly, he asked "What should I do to join?" He could only hope that smile wasn't preceding something as morbid as he thought it was.

Narcissus smiled. "Give me your hand."

Dan stomach lurched, but he held out his hand.

Narcissus took it, her cold hand squeezing his tightly. Then, grabbing the knife in her left hand, she made a slash in his left hand right where his thumb met his palm.

Dan howled in pain, and jerked his hand free from Narcissus' grasp. "What'd you do that for?" He asked, looking down at the blood gushing from his palm like a waterfall.

Narcissus rolled her eyes. "Because. That's how you join our group." She held out her right hand, and Dan saw a scar in the same spot.

"Now." Narcissus said. "Stick your first finger in the blood, and sign your name right here. "

Dan cringed, and dipped his finger in the blood. He signed his name, grimacing at how quickly the blood dried into a deathly brownish color.

The girl grinned, gathering up the papers, and opened the door to the car, "We're here! Get out quickly"

Dan did so, cringing slightly at the pangs of pain emitting from his hand. As he stepped out, he shivered from the chill that was creeping through his bones, a chill he only felt in Narcissus's home. He looked up at the huge building looming above him ominously. So this was it.

"Welcome to your new family!"

 _"New family. Right"_ Dan thought. _"More like, deathbed."_ He smiled warmly at Narcissus, but refused her hand, saying he needed to hold his injured one.

And then they were walking through the shadow of the building, causing Dan to feel like a mouse spotted by an eagle. They reached the doors, and Narcissus held up her scarred hand. The door whooshed open for her, and then slammed behind her. From inside, Narcissus motioned for Dan to do the same, which he did.

The door swished open for him, like a lion opening its jaws, and then he was inside. Inside the mousetrap.


End file.
